The Deal
by CoralinaPlantain
Summary: AU: When business aren't going so well, a merger is done to try to ease the damage. But what happens when business starts interfering in personal life? When Callie Torres is about to breakdown and throw everything away, she finds in Arizona Robbins the strenght to stay firm and fight for what she wants. But is it just a friendship or are there any hidden feelings behind it all?
1. Chapter 1

AN: I had this idea a few weeks ago and I thought it was worth to post it. It's my first AU so please, be patient with me lol It might seem a little confusing at first but I think you guys won't be lost for too long. I really hope you like it, enjoy your reading.

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My life has always been this huge mess. Since I was a little girl, I knew what I wanted to do with my life. Every detail was planned out in my mind; my profession, the kind of man that I wanted to marry, how many kids I would have, how my family's house would be... I can say I was a dreamer. But when time passed and I got older, I saw that things wouldn't be so easy.

I had always dreamed about being a doctor, the thought of saving people's life had always made my heart beat faster... but I guess I just didn't have enough courage to step for what I wanted and just let my father make the decisions for me.

I'm the younger daughter of 3 kids. My sister Aria lives in Spain with her husband and her little girl, we only see each other during the Holidays; my brother Javier – the oldest – moved out when I was five, he used to call me every Sunday… but after a while his calls became rare until it arrived to the point in which he didn't call at all.

Since I was the only child left, my father made sure I would do anything he wanted me to do. Once I tried mentioning going to Med School and I thought that the man was going to have a heart attack, I've never seen him so angry.

_"You're not going to any Med School, Calliope!"_ I remember his words as if he had said it yesterday. _"You're the only one I have left and I won't lose you, you will assume the family business once I retire."_

I wanted to say no, scream that I wasn't going to give up on my dream but I didn't want to hurt my dad, he's the only one I have left. My siblings moved out, my mom had died a couple years before... he's the only family I have, besides Mark, of course. Mark is a really close friend, I could say he is the only one that I have... the only real one, one that I know is not interested in being friends because I'm the daughter of the boss, he's my friend because he likes who I am. So yeah, I consider him my family.

Oh, I guess I forgot to mention that my father's business isn't just any business... it's huge stuff. Hotels... we have hotels all over the country.

I'm responsible for the hotel Mark works in, he's the manager and I'm his boss. We work in Seattle. When I chose to come to Seattle my father hesitated for a bit, he wanted to have me closer but after some fighting he agreed and well, here I am.

Today is another of those rainy days in Seattle, I can hear the water shocking against the window of my office, where I'm sat in my very comfortable chair signing some papers.

"Ms. Torres." Came the voice from the intercom.

"Yes, Melanie."

"Mr. Sloan is here, can I let him in?"

"I already told you he doesn't need to be announced, let him in." I said a little coldly. I'm not usually this mean with my employees, but last week I lost my favorite secretary and this one is replacing her. I know it's not her fault that Colleen lost her job, but every time I hear her voice instead of Colleen's I feel a little bit of anger taking over my body. Colleen already knew how I liked things, she made me feel comfortable... and with this one? I have to start everything all over again.

"Having a tough day, Torres?" Mark said as he entered my office.

"Hey Mark, no, I'm just a little bit stressed… too much work to do and I still have to pick my father up at the airport… what time is it?"

"Well, your father is already here." He said as he sat down in the chair in front of my desk. "I actually just came out from a meeting with him."

"What?" I said surprised as I stood up from my chair. "Are you dumb?! Why didn't you tell me?!"

"Torres, he's in a meeting with Robert Avery right now he-"

"Robert Avery?" I said cutting him before he could say anything else. "THE Robert Avery… from the Harper Plaza hotels?"

"Yeah, that one." He said not as excited as I was. "Cal, we need to talk."

That was the point where he got me worried. He never called me "Cal", I mean, hardly ever, he only did that when he had something serious to say... something bad serious.

"Mark, is ev-everything okay?" I asked with concern as I sat back down.

"No-yes... no. But it will be… eventually."

"You're getting me worried here... oh my God, don't tell me you got Addison pregnant?" I said as I led my hand to my mouth to hide my shocked expression.

"No, it's not that. Though, it'd be better if that was it." He let out a defeated laugh. "This meeting I had with your father?" I nodded to let him know that I knew what he's talking about. "It wasn't a good thing... he uh...he fired me."

"He did WHAT?!" I yelled, standing up from my chair.

"He called me this morning when he arrived and told me to meet him at his office here. When our meeting started he came in doing small talk which I found weird because your father doesn't make small talk. Then he started talking about how the business is going, which I should tell you, isn't going good, and said they need to start cutting departments and with that they need to fire people, and well, I was the first lucky guy." He said with sarcasm.

"He-he can't do that!" I said heading to my office's door.

"Torres!" He called coming after me and grabbing me by my arm. "Where are you going?"

"I'm going to talk to him, he can't fire you, he... he can't do that."

"He's the boss. Mine and yours. He's your father, but also your boss... there's nothing you can do." He said trying to calm me down, but nothing can calm hurricane Callie Torres.

I stayed hidden for too long, took all my father's advice, I did everything he wanted me to do, but there comes a point where we have to stand up for our values and yeah, this is my time. It's my time to stand up for something I want… to stand up for my friend.

"No, Mark... he has to listen to me."

"He's in a meeting... with the Avery guy, you can't just go in!"

"Who said I can't?" That was the last thing I said before making Mark let go of my arm so I could head towards my father's office.

Once I arrived near his office's door his secretary said he was in a meeting but she'd let him know that I was outside waiting for him.

"Don't say anything, and I don't care if he's in a meeting." Was all I said before swinging open the door and getting into his office to meet the shocked expression on his face and on the face of the man who was in the room.

"Calliope..." He said with a smile appearing on his face. "Mija, as much as I love to see you I'm in a very important meeting right now, I'll talk to you as soon as I'm done."

"No!" I said. I could feel my body shake, I was scared... God! I was freaking scared, I had never confronted my father before. "You won't come and talk to me because I'm the one who is going to talk, I don't care if you're in the middle of a meeting, you'll listen to me and you'll listen to me right now"

"Calliope..."

"No, do not Calliope me! How could you do this?" I didn't want to cry but I could feel the tears filling up my eyes. "You fired Mark, how could you do this to him? He's been working here for years, he has always done an awesome job and when you need to cut the department he is the first one you cut? I mean, the second, let's not forget Colleen. Yeah dad, remember Colleen? My secretary who is also a single mother of 3 kids that now no longer knows how she's going to buy food for them because she no longer has a job? How can you do this, dad? How can you..." I couldn't say more. If I wanted to keep the tears away I had to stop talking and take a deep breath.

"Mr. Avery, I think we can meet again another time?" My father asked the man who was listening to everything in the corner of the room.

"Yes Mr. Torres, I guess you have a lot to discuss." He said as he shook my father's hand and started walking towards the door. "It was nice seeing you Calliope, you remind me of my son… you two would be great friends." He told me before leaving the room.

"Take a seat." My father said pointing to the chair next to the one he was sat. "We are not in our best moment, Calliope. This is why Mr. Avery was here-"

"I don't care why he was here; I want you to get Mark back." I cut him off.

"Listen to me, mija. Mr. Avery was here because we are now in a dangerous area, we have to cut departments and it's all a huge mess. Don't think I made the decision of firing Mark in one day. I thought a lot about it, I know how much it would hurt you... I calculated and calculated but there was nothing I could do, this was the only solution. Now, we have 4 hotels with the same manager... it's a hard time, mija... it asks for desperate decisions."

"Why couldn't Mark be this manager? Don't you think he's capable of handling the work?" I asked a little calmer now. _'God, counting to ten really does help.'_

"No, of course I don't think like that."

"Then why?"

"Because I need him to do something else for me."

"What? Wait, what?" I asked surprised.

"Your friend has a really big mouth, I thought he would wait a little longer until tell you I had fired him but I was wrong."

"Of course he would tell me, I'm his best friend, I'm like his only family... to whom else would he talk?" _How can my dad not know that? _I kept asking myself. "But now, tell me, what is this thing you need him for?"

"Like I said before we are in a difficult time, business is not good as it used to be. And we're not the only ones in the rain... it seems like the Avery's are having a hard time... so I called Robert for a meeting, to make him a proposal."

"Proposal?"

"Yeah, I made him a proposal... about merging the companies."

"A merger?" I asked a little shocked. "What good could it bring? It would cause even more people without jobs."

"That's true... but the situation would last only for a while, once we establish the situation we would contract all the personnel back."

"But until then, what would these people do?"

"Well, we could indicate them to other companies... it's not a really clever solution but the best we could do for now."

"And what did Mr. Avery say about it?"

"It seems like they're not at that point yet, but he sounded really interested. He said he was going to think about it and he would call me back."

"Okay but you still didn't tell me… why do you need Mark to do something for you?"

"Oh right... I need him to do some field research."

"Field what?"

"I need him to do some research for me... going to some other hotels, see what they have-"

"Espionage? Really, dad?"

"It's not that. Okay, let me make it simple to understand, I need him to find a way to cut the costs without having many trouble or having to fire much more personnel... I heard he is good with numbers."

"Yes, he is... but-"

"Do you think he'll accept?"

"Well, yeah... he'd be a dork if he didn't."

"Okay, great... I can talk to him later. Are you calmer now?" He asked in a playful tone.

"Yeah..yeah, I'm sorry I just..."

"You stand up for the people you love."

"Yeah..."

"You surprised me today, mija. I've never seen you like this before."

"I'm sorry"

"It's okay. How about I take you and your big mouthed friend for lunch so I can tell him about my plans?"

"That'd be great."

* * *

It's been a week since I exploded on my dad. Later that day we had lunch with Mark, who was really relived when he heard about my dad's plans for him... he accepted without hesitation, so now we're all fine.

I'm sitting in my father's office staring at the wall waiting for Robert Avery to arrive. He had called my father the night before saying he had an answer to my father's proposal.

"Are you nervous, mija?" He said as he noticed I could stop tapping my fingers.

"A little, I guess... it's insane, isn't it?" I let out a nervous laugh.

"No, it's not." He said giving me a supportive smile.

"Mr. Torres, Mr. Avery is here."

"Thank you, Mariska. Let him in, please."

Not ten seconds later the man entered the room.

"Good afternoon, Mr. And Ms. Torres." He said.

"It's Callie, please... Ms. Torres was my mom." I said and he just nodded.

"Well, you're both aware of why I'm here today so I guess we can go straight to the point, shall we?"

"Yes, please." My father said pointing to the seat the man was supposed to take.

"I gave your proposal a lot of thought, Mr. Torres. I must admit that business is hard at this point and it asks for some desperate solutions." He said just repeating the words my father said a few days ago. "I think your proposal may be the best option for both of us."

"So you're saying yes?" I said a little anxious.

"Yes, but I have some... requests."

"Okay, what are those?" My father asked.

"Better than a merger I think we should create a new logo. I mean, it would be a merger but I think that "Torres Avery" hotels or something like that wouldn't be the best name, and people –from the business field, I mean – would notice that we're not doing so well and that wouldn't be good for us. You know… the old story about not letting your enemies know about your secrets slash weaknesses?" We just give him an assuring nod. "So I say we should get a new name, as if we kept our own business but also had another one together."

"I think that could work." My father said. "Is that all?"

"Also, I want your daughter to go on a date with my son."

"I'm sorry, what?" I said laughing. "I think I heard wrong."

"No, Callie you heard right... I want you to go on a date with my son."

The man is insane, isn't he? Go on a date with his son?! This is business not a web site where you put in your information in hope that someone likes it and asks you out.

"I'm sorry but...no. I'm not-"

"Calliope..."

"No, dad. No! I'm-I'm not doing it."

"It's just a dinner Ms. Torres... I'm not telling you to marry him."

"I already told you it's Callie!" I snapped at him.

"Mija, calm down..." My father said placing his hands on my shoulder. "It's just dinner, nothing else."

"Dad, are you insane? I can't believe you're asking me to do this... this is business, this isn't about personal stuff. I'm not something you can use for your business."

"So we don't call it a date. We call it a business dinner. He's going to assume the company after me just like you will assume after your father. And since we're merging the companies it's good for you to meet each other, you're going to be working together."

I could feel my cheeks blushing in anger; I couldn't believe this was happening.

"So..." He said looking at me.

"Fine." I answered after thinking about it for a while. Not that I like the idea, I hate the idea but he's right, we're going to work together so I have to get to know him.

"Great, so I think we have a deal." He said turning to my father to shake his hand. He had this huge smile on his face that made me want to punch him.

"Deal." My father answered.

With a last shake of hands he left the room leaving only me and my father.

"Thank you, Calliope." He said placing his hands once again on my shoulder.

"Whatever." I said storming out of his office.

This is so not what I wanted.

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AN2: So, Arizona wasn't in this chapter but we're going to "see" her on chapter two, don't worry. So, what do you think? Should I keep posting it? Did you like it? Let me know what you think. See you next chapter! Xo;


	2. The Date

AN: Hey guys, I'm really glad you liked this story, I'm having some fun writing it. I've got an amazing feedback on last chapter, thank you so much! I hope you like this chapter as much as you liked the other. Enjoy your reading!

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Callie's POV

"This is stupid, isn't it?" I ask Mark as I give myself one last check in the mirror. It's the night of the date. I'm wearing a simple black dress that hits just above my knee. I still can't believe I've gotten myself into this because of business, I just can't.

"Yeah, maybe it is." Mark said as he approached me and wrapped his arms around my waist. "But you're going to give the guy a night to remember, you look hot, Torres. I'm almost telling you to dump him and go out with me." He says playfully placing a kiss on my cheek.

"Oh shut up, Mark! Don't you have a girlfriend?" I say getting out of his embrace. "I wasn't supposed to look hot, this is not a date it's just... a dinner to talk about business."

"You can lie to yourself as long as you want but... this is a date."

"I can't believe I'm doing this..."

10 minutes later I'm in my living room waiting for my "date", and while we wait, Mark doesn't waste his opportunity to tell me about his new love interest; Lexie Grey, she works at a hospital downtown, and according to him, she's really nice.

"How did you meet her, Mark? I mean, she's not even in our business field." I ask him as I take a sip of my glass of red wine.

"The other day I got into a bar fight-"

"You were in a bar fight?" I couldn't believe my best friend, he's not that kind of man.

"To make a long story short, there was this guy bothering her and I saw she was alone and couldn't do anything so I went to help her. The guy didn't like it and punched me in the face, but the bar owner kicked him out. After that she thanked me and said I needed some stitches and took me to her hospital... then, I asked her out for drinks and she said yes."

"That's a nice story." I said giving him a smile.

We got lost once again in our conversation, talking about everything and anything until I heard the doorbell ring announcing my "date" was here.

"You must be Jackson Avery." I say as I open the door. I can't deny that he was better than I expected, he was tall with caramel colored skin and beautiful green eyes. This dinner may not be as bad as I thought.

"And you must be Calliope Torres." He says with a sincere smile.

"It's Callie, just call me Callie."

"Alright then, Callie." He repeated. "We should get going, dinner reservation is for 8, we don't wanna be late."

"Yes, we don't. Just give me a minute, I'll tell Mark I'm leaving."

It took me a little while to say goodbye to Mark, he wanted to go and check out this Avery guy but I told him not to or he would scare him off.

The ride to the restaurant went smoothly, a little awkward since neither of us were really comfortable because we didn't know each other that well. Actually, we didn't know each other at all.

"So, Callie..." He says as we are already at dinner table. "Are you excited about the merger?"

"Umm, I don't really know. It's going to be good for us because we'll cut some costs and won't spend that much money, but on the other hand we'll also have to cut personnel and it just kinda of messes up with me. I hate firing people, those people are there because they need the job and... I don't know, it doesn't feel fair, you know?" I say in a rush. I'm really glad he decided to talk about work, it will make things a little bit more comfortable.

"Yeah, I understand." He says taking a sip of his white wine. "When my father first told me about it, I thought it was insane. But then he showed me the company graphics and they weren't good, the merger would indeed help. So after a lot of research we agreed to do it."

"At least your father consulted you, asked your opinion before making any decisions. When I first heard of the merger, was when my father came from Miami to meet with your father."

"Well, he's not always like that. To be honest it surprised me that he spoke to me before making this decision." He said with a small laugh. "And I was even more surprised when he told me the conditions he proposed to your dad."

"I know, right? It caught me off guard; I wasn't expecting him to want me to go on a date with his son. Nothing against you, though." I said trying to correct myself.

"Yeah, I'm really sorry he got you into this."

"No, it's okay. I'm having a good time." It seemed like he zoned out for a little bit didn't hear what I was saying… or didn't believe that I had just said that, he seemed a little lost for a moment and it got me worried. "Jackson, is everything okay?"

"Oh, yes." He said straitening himself on the chair. "I'm having a good time too. And you look gorgeous by the way."

I could feel my cheeks blush and now it was my turn to say nothing. _Say something, Callie!_ A little voice screamed in my head. "Thank you, you look nice too."

We spent some more time talking and drinking, the food was amazing. It was a really nice restaurant. There were wooden floors and these big windows that allowed us to see the Seattle skyline in a way I never thought was possible.

**Did he try to kiss you already? - M**

Mark's text caught me by surprise; I was so distracted that I barely heard when my phone rang.

"I'm sorry." I said as I checked my phone and laughed at my friend's antics. "It's nothing important." I said shoving my phone back into my purse and going back talking about the weather in Seattle. Weird topic for a date, you might say... but it wasn't a date, right?

One hour later I'm in Jackson's car and we're pulling up to the front of my house.

"So I guess this is it, you survived the night." He joked.

"Yeah, I did. It wasn't as bad as I thought it would be."

"Well, I'm glad it wasn't."

"Me too. Thank you, Jackson." I said as I opened the car's door.

"My pleasure." He answered. "Umm, Callie?"

"Yes?"

"I would like to know if... you'd like to come to the Harper's tomorrow? Since we're merging I think you should see what we have and maybe... what we could change. Plus, it'd be a pleasure to see you again."

"Oh... sure, I would love to. Is 8 a good time?" He just nodded. "Okay then, I'll be there at 8." Those were my last words before turning on my heels and walking up to my front door. Tonight wasn't that bad.

* * *

When I was about to have my way with Jon Huertas, my alarm went off. I got up and went straight to the bathroom, I hadn't had a nice night of sleep in a while, since this date thing came up I couldn't sleep well... not because I was excited or anxious, but because I couldn't stop thinking about a way to get out of that trap. But as we all know, I couldn't and thank God it wasn't that bad.

After a long hot shower I got my stuff ready to start the day, I have to be at the Harper's Plaza at 8 so I better rush a little.

One hour later I am parking my car in front of a huge, HUGE and beautiful building with the Avery's logo on the top.

Once inside my mouth goes open when I see all of the stuff that they have in there. I'm used to fancy hotels, my family's hotels are five star hotels but this... this is just insane, no doubt why they accepted the merger so fast after checking the graphics.

Before taking the elevator to the last floor – where all the offices are – I send Jackson a quick text to let him know I'm already here.

Once the elevator's doors open I am met with Jackson's piercing green eyes.

"Hey Callie, I'm glad you came." He says giving me a smile.

"I told you I would."

"So, let me show you the hotel then we can come back to the office later so you can tell me what you think?"

"Sure, let's go."

Jackson and I spent some time walking around; he's showing me their best rooms and also the simple ones. Even the simple ones were fancy and full of unnecessary stuff. I know it's a five star hotel but really... this all isn't really necessary.

After showing me around, Jackson takes me back to his office where we sat and talk about the things we could fix or change.

In the middle of our "meeting" someone knocks on the door getting our all attention.

"Come in." Jackson says.

When the doors are opened I am met with a blue eyed blonde girl wearing a perfectly fitted gray suit and beautiful black stiletto heels.

"I'm sorry, Mr. Avery. Traffic wasn't good this morning, couldn't make it early." She says as she takes the seat where I assume she was supposed to.

"No problems." He says giving her a smile and the relief on her face was really noticeable. "Well, Callie... this is my assistant, Arizona Robbins. Arizona, this is Callie Torres from the Santa Elena Palace."

"Nice to meet you." I say simply.

"Nice to meet you too, Ms. Torres." She says politely.

"Oh, please... it's Callie. Since we'll be working together I guess we can forget formality." I say standing up from my chair and offering her my hand so she could shake it. I'm not the kind of person who thinks that because I'm the boss my employees have to treat me with fear or something like that… Respect? Yes, but not too many formalities, starting with my name.

For a unknown reason the blonde seemed a little lost. She keeps her eyes on me but it seems like she's lost inside herself... but at some point she has a click and clears her throat. "Okay, sure... Callie." She says as she shakes my hand.

I stare at her for a moment trying to understand what had happened but I just let it go.

"Callie, you wanna go grab a coffee?" Jackson says breaking the silence.

"Yes, let's go grab a coffee... it's going to be a long day and I'll need it." I say already suffering from the boring and long day I knew I would have. "You wanna come with us, Arizona?" I ask the blonde that now is concentrated on some paperwork.

"No, I'm fine." She says giving me a smile. Dimples, she's got dimples... super cute. "Thanks for asking, though."

"Sure." I say nodding. "So, I'll see you around?"

"See you." Were the last words I heard from her.

Despite of what I thought, the day went pretty quickly and I am already heading home. All that I want now is my bathtub filled with some hot water to help me relax.

* * *

AN2: That's it for now, did you like it? Or do you hate me because of that date? lol About the guest who said "Callie and Jacksy lol", I couldn't agree more! But don't worry about them, I have everything planned and I won't disappoint you! See you next chapter! XO;


	3. The First Day

AN: Hey guys, sorry it took so long to post this chapter, my beta was kinda of busy these days and only could work on it yesterday but anyways, here it is! It's the first Arizona's POV, let's see what the blonde is going to think of her first day at work, it's not that long but don't worry, there's a really long chapter coming on your way ;) Enjoy your reading.

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Arizona's POV

I've been working for the Avery's for a long time now. They are really nice people to work for, despite of what everybody says. When Mr. Avery called for a meeting to announce that changes would be happening, I never thought he would come up with a merger. I knew that things weren't as great as they used to be, but I didn't know they were at that point yet.

A couple of weeks ago I met my future boss, Callie Torres. I was late for work; traffic was terrible that day and I thought I was going to have one of those days where all I could think about all day is going home and sleeping all day or getting drunk, but that perspective changed when I saw Callie. She was the first thing I noticed when I entered the room, not just because she was a stranger, but because she was… hot, and by hot I mean insanely hot. She was wearing this black tight skirt that made me stop on my tracks, but thank God she didn't seem to notice I was checking her out.

Ever since that day I couldn't stop counting the days for this merger to happen. My friend Clara told me that I was getting a little annoying because all I could talk about was this merger. And of course, knowing me as well as she does, she knew there was something behind it, a real reason for all this excitement. It was all clear to her when I told her about my new boss. She asked me if I was going to try to make any moves on Callie, but I told her no. I wish I could but there are too many reasons why I can't. First, the woman is straight, and rumor has it she's dating Jackson and second, she's my boss, I'm not into hitting on my boss.

After weeks spent thinking about this day, it was finally here - the day of the merger.

When I arrived at the Santa Elena Palace what I saw didn't really impress me. It was simpler than the Harper Plaza which I have to admit, makes me feel more comfortable, but it was simple in a beautiful way. I'm a simple girl, I like simple.

I couldn't help but notice that on my way to the top floor the employees were very different of what I'm used to. They greet you and smile at you... that's something you don't have at the Plaza, of course they're supposed to be nice and they are - but not like this, these people actually make you believe they're happy, on the other hand back there, they make it pretty clear their smile is forced.

Reaching the last floor the elevator's doors open and I take a deep breath. _That's it, Arizona. It's a new beginning, enjoy it. _I say to myself.

At first I'm a little lost, but it doesn't take too long until a man approaches me and introduces himself.

"Good Morning, you must be Arizona Robbins." He says with a smile. I just nod. "I'm George O'Malley, today I'm in charge to show you the place. You'll be working with Ms. Torres, so you'll spend most of your time in her office but today, as it's your first day, I'll show you around and after you can go to your office."

"My office… that sounds funny." I say with a little giggle. "I mean, it's her office and mine and... oh never mind," I said as I see the confused look on his face. "It's a joke we used to have back where I worked, just... forget it."

"O-kay." He said. "So, let's go, we have lots of things to see."

I spent the first hour of my day with this George O'Malley. He is a really nice guy, sympathetic, made me laugh sometimes... but he's not really good at making jokes.

"Well, here we are." He said as we were back on the last floor. "Ms. Torres' office is in that direction," He pointed to a long hallway. "…won't be hard to find. Good luck on your first day."

"Thank you, George." I say giving him a nice smile.

As I walk down the hallway I find my heart beating a little faster. Why am I this anxious to see this woman again? I only saw her once and am already feeling like this? God help me!

I couldn't help but hear screaming coming from behind her door.

_"My lack of interest in seeing you is not stubbornness, I don't wanna see you because I don't wanna see you!" _ I could hear her voice getting louder. _"No- no, you don't get to talk to me that way because you don't know me, you don't know anything about me…no, I won't meet you. Period."_ After that last line silence took the room. It was time to get in business.

"Come in!" She said in a hard tone when I knocked the door.

"Good morning, Ms. Torres I'm-"

"How many times do I have to tell you to not call me Ms. Torres." She says without even looking up. I have to say that her tone sort of scared me.

"I'm sorry, I didn't think you were serious about me calling you Callie once we start working together."

"Sart-what- what are you," She started, finally looking up at me. "Oh, right... it's you, I'm sorry I thought it was somebody else... please come in."

Wow, really? She thought it was somebody else? She's used to talking like this with her personnel? Whoa, totally different from the first impression I had. Maybe she's just one of those people who are nice to you only while they're contracting you and after that they make your life hell.

"You can stay at this table," She said pointing to a wooden table in the corner of the room. "I'm not used to having someone else working with me in my office, but Jackson said that we could work better like this, and since now you're my assistant and we'll spent plenty of time together I guess it'd be more comfortable for you too." She says.

"Um, okay... thanks."

"Please make yourself comfortable and if you need anything just press one on the telephone and it will direct you to the secretary." She said as she raised herself up from her chair and started walking towards the door. "I have a meeting now but you don't need to come, just some last papers for the merger and that's all. It won't last more than an hour. Anyways, I should get going."

Before I could say anything else she turned on her heels and left the room.

"Alright, boss!" I say to the empty room.

What the hell happened to her? That phone call must have gotten on her nerves.

There weren't even 5 minutes since Callie left the room and someone came to knock the door.

"Come in." I said.

"Hey Torres, came to get you for lun-" The man said but stopped when he noticed I was the only one in the room. "…you're not Torres."

"That's about right." I say standing up from my chair. "Arizona Robbins, I'm Callie's new assistant."

"Oh, right... she told me about you."

"She did?" I said surprised.

"She did, she said she was getting an assistant." _Oh, right. _He said as he approached me and gave me his hand so I could shake. "Mark Sloan, I'm Callie's friend."

"Nice to meet you, Mark."

"Nice to meet you too, Arizona."

If there's something I don't understand about men, is their thing for boobs. They can't help but stare at them and Mark wasn't different. I mean, the only difference was that he didn't seem to mind I noticed he was staring.

"She should be here soon… she went to a meeting a few minutes ago and said it wouldn't take too long." I said trying to take his attention away from my boobs_. Eyes on the face, Mark!_

"Oh, okay. Do you mind if I wait here?"

"No, of course not. Make yourself comfortable."

We spent some time in there talking, despite my first thought about him staring at my boobs, he was a nice guy, he knew how to talk.

"Hey Mark, I'm sorry." Callie said as she came back. "I know we planned to have lunch together but the meeting took longer than I thought it would."

"It's okay; I spent some good time talking to Robbins here." He said giving me a wink. "Is everything okay, you have a weird look on your face and your eyes are sort of-"

"Can we talk about it while we have lunch?" She cut him off. She probably didn't want to get into the subject in front of me, which I understood, I'm new, I don't know her... I wouldn't be comfortable talking about some sort of issues in front of her either.

"Alright, let's go. Nice meeting you, Robbins." He said before leaving the room.

"Nice meeting you too."

Hours went by faster than I thought they would, which was good because my heels were killing me and I couldn't wait to take them off and throw them across the room.

After Mark took her to lunch Callie came back a little... happier, for a lack of a better word. Her eyes were puffy, she was probably crying but even with puffy eyes she seemed a little happier. This Mark guy must really know how to cheer her up.

"I'm done for today." I said when I checked my watch and it showed it was already time to leave.

"Okay," She said. "Time went by pretty fast today. I hope you enjoyed your first day here."

"Yes, I did. The people here are really nice."

"Yeah, they are." She said with this big bright smile. Dead, I am dead. What's this smile?!

"I should get going, see you tomorrow."

"Arizona, wait." She said as I reached the door. "At the meeting today we decided we're having a gala in a few weeks, to celebrate the merger... you know, the kind of crap I think is unnecessary, but nobody listen to me," She let out a weak laugh. "You should come. You've been working here just for a day but you you've been working with them for years... it's fair."

"Sure, I'll see if I can make it." I said giving her a dimpled smile.

"Okay, I hope you do. Good night."

"Night, see you tomorrow."

One hour and a half later I'm lying on my couch with my legs up. What's with that woman? Why can't I stop thinking about her? Maybe it's because I see her like this big puzzle I can't put together. First she's mad and says something that makes me think she's mean to her employees and after she's this sweet woman saying that the people who work with her are nice and inviting me to this gala? This is for sure a puzzle I'm willing to put together... without getting attached though.

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AN2: That's it for now, like I said, not really long but I hope you enjoyed it. Any ideas who Callie was talking to? I guess it's not too hard to find out, she seemed to be really mad.

I'd like to thank you guys for your reviews, follows and for favoriting this story, I'm having a really good time writing it and I am really glad to know that people are actually enjoying it. See you next chapter. Xo;


	4. The Gala

AN: Hello everyone, sorry it took so long to update... Anyways, here is the new chapter and I think you guys will enjoy this one.

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Callie's POV

When Mr. Avery and my father came with this gala idea, I thought it was completely absurd. How could two companies that had to merge because of money even think about throwing a huge party? Just to show people that they weren't as bad off as it seemed, I assumed.

If I thought it was an absurd idea before, what I see now makes me think it's even more absurd. As I walk around what used to be Santa Elena's lobby, my mouth drops open. There's a huge bar where our reception desk usually sat, there's a stage where there's an orchestra playing and the place is full of people wearing fancy clothes and expensive jewelry.

"Insane, isn't it?" I hear a voice behind me.

"Hey Jackson," I greet my new friend. "Yeah, completely insane. I told them it wasn't a good idea but they wouldn't listen to me."

"They will see you were right when the bills come." He said taking a sip of his glass of champagne.

"Oh yes, they will." I said laughing. "Where did you get this? I need alcohol to at least try to be sympathetic tonight."

"There. At the bar." He said as he pointed to the reception area.

"Oh God, I still can't believe our reception desk became a bar."

"Well, it's true… so enjoy it."

"Maybe after the first glass that won't be hard."

After I got my glass of champagne, Jackson and I decided if we wanted to survive the night we should enjoy each other's company, since we were the only ones that understood how big the hole in our funding would be after this party. Not after too long, Mark joined us and I finally could introduce the two of them.

"So you're the guy who took Torres on a date." Mark said. "I hope you didn't cross any lines…"

"You don't have to worry about that, I am a very respectful guy." Avery said raising his glass.

"Good to know." Mark said raising his as well.

As we were about to get back to our conversation a voice echoed across the room. _"Can I have everyone's attention for a minute, please." Oh no, here it comes._

"In name of the Torres family and the Avery family, I would like to welcome you all to our party." Robert's voice filled the room being followed by a round of applause. "Now, as we all know, the Torres's and the Avery's are now one family. A family who has as an objective provide a better quality to our clients and comfort to our employees in a better place to stay and work, respectively. After years being in this business field as two giants, we decided to stop trying to be better than each other and join forces to create the best together."

"I think I'm gonna throw up." I said getting a laugh from the guys.

"And tonight," He kept going with his speech. "We are here to formalize this union and spend a great night with our friends. Drinks on me tonight, enjoy the party!" Those were his last words before leaving the stage.

"I can't believe he did it." Avery said with a frustrated tone. "Crappy speech."

"I didn't know an Avery was allowed to use that kind of language." Mark joked.

"Have you seen my father up there? Of course I'm allowed, there isn't another word to describe that."

"Yeah, that was really bad_. "We decided to stop trying to be better than each other and join forces to create the best together" _I said, mocking Mr. Avery. "Who bought that shit?"

We shared a round of laughter.

"Guys," Mark said getting our attention. "Is that Blondie?" He pointed to the direction Arizona was coming from.

"Holy crap!" Avery said when he stopped his eyes on the blonde girl.

I didn't understand what got them so impressed until I turned around. Arizona had this long black sleeveless dress, dark make up that made her blue eyes shine even more, shoulder length loose curls and heels that I couldn't really see.

"Wow…" was all I could manage to say.

"I should really try a move, she's hot." Mark said still staring at the blonde.

"You have a girlfriend." Avery reminded him. "Plus, you'd never get anything with her."

"Of course I would, look at me, I'm a Greek God."

"You can be whatever you want but you wouldn't, she's not into men."

"She's gay?!" I let out a little louder than I should.

"Yes, you're the only one that has a chance here, Torres."

"Oh shut up!" I said giving him a light punch on the arm.

"Wouldn't be the first time, Torres." Mark said making me blush, I couldn't believe he just said that.

"What?" Avery asked surprised turning to look at me.

"Hi guys." Arizona said as she finally reached us. Saved by the blonde! What took you so long to get here?

"Hey Blondie." Mark said with a knowing smirk. "You look great."

"Yes, Arizona, you're indeed stunning tonight." Avery said staring at the blonde.

"Thank you guys, but you should stop saying these things before I end up believing you." She said playfully but couldn't hide the blush that crossed her cheeks.

"You can believe them, you look beautiful Arizona." I finally managed to say something.

"Thank you, you look great too." I couldn't help but notice she was checking me out.

"See, you totally have a chance." Jackson whispered in my ear.

"Shut up." I said giving him another punch, this time a little harder.

"Is everything okay?" She said as she noticed our weird behavior.

"Yeah, yeah… everything's okay, just little Jackson that gets a little inappropriate when he's drunk." I said trying to pretend nothing was happening.

"Excuse me." And old guy said as he approached us. Saved by the bell once again! "You must be Jackson Avery, right?" Jackson just shook his head. "Ah, it's so nice to see you again! You might not remember me but I'm an old friend of your fathers, last time I saw you - you had just started college. I'm Jason Edwards."

"Nice to see you again, Mr. Edwards." Jackson replied politely. The look on his face showed clearly that he had no idea who the man was.

"Jason is just fine, young man." He said giving Jackson friendly slaps on the shoulder. "Now, what've you got here?" He said turning to me. "She is really beautiful, you're a lucky guy."

"Uh, I'm sorry… what are you talking about?" I asked not really getting the man's point.

"Oh come on dear, you don't need to be ashamed. That 'we're now one family' thing can't be just about business."

"Oh no, we're not-" I tried to explain but a voice that came from behind interrupted me.

"They indeed are a beautiful couple, aren't they?"

"Dad, what are you doing?" Jackson asked just as surprised as me.

"Yes, Mr. Avery, what are you doing?" Mark emphasized Jackson's question as he approached me in a protective way. Arizona just stayed behind him watching everything.

"You guys don't need to hide it anymore now that it got out." He said with this cynical smile. "Jason here is not the only one to notice, now the news is out."

I could feel my heart race as I heard his words. I wanted to punch him in the face – and let's remember it's not the first time I've felt this way about Mr. Avery – how could someone play like this?

"I'm going outside to get some fresh air." I said trying to hide my anger but not being really successful. I wanted to give him a piece of my mind, to tell Mr. Edwards I wasn't with Jackson that we were just friends, but it was one of those moments when you're too surprised – in this case, shocked - to have any kind of reaction.

I could feel Arizona's eyes on me as I made my way out of the room and Mark coming after me as I tried walk through the large amount of people at the party. "Mark, you don't need to come after me, okay." I said softly as I turned to face him. "I'm fine, I just need some time alone to think and maybe curse a little bit, okay?" He just nodded his head. "Thank you."

On my way out of the party I was stopped by some people to congratulate me on my relationship with Jackson, and as this situation hit me, I realized the only place I could have some sort of peace was upstairs in my office.

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Arizona's POV

When I'm in the middle of the Santa Elena's lobby - I mean, which now has become a huge hall full of people wearing fancy clothes – I feel kinda lost. The merger happened about a month ago and it's been great working with Callie. Despite of what happened on my first day, when I thought she was a mean bitch with her employees, she proved herself to be really nice and sweet.

When she invited me to this party I wasn't really sure if I should come or not. I knew it was going to be a huge party, full of rich people and I wouldn't feel comfortable with it, but I just couldn't say no to her. And well, now here I am… all dislocated and alone because I don't know any of these people.

Mr. Avery just did his speech and I'm now trying to find Callie, Jackson or even Mark, who also proved that despite his boob staring thing, really is a really nice guy. I have to confess that Mr. Avery's speech wasn't one of his bests and what did he mean by only one family? That wasn't only about business, was it?

As I walk around still trying to find them I hear some people gossiping about Callie and Jackson's relationship…

Relationship? Wait… so that wasn't about business… they are together. _'That's just great.' _I sarcastically tell myself.

After looking for them for a little longer I finally found them and they were all staring at me, and when I say all, I mean even Callie. I see they're talking about something and for a second I hesitate to go their direction, but it would be rude to turn around and pretend I haven't seen them when it's really clear I did. They all look really great in their fancy clothes. Not as great as Callie, of course, she was wearing a dark purple dress that had this long neckline that gave me enough view of her cleavage. My mouth is totally dry right now.

After greeting them we spent some awkward time together, I couldn't help but notice that there was something going on with Callie and Jackson. But it was soon over when a man approached us being followed by Jackson's father, who confirmed in front of all of us that Callie and Jackson were indeed in a relationship.

Callie seemed really mad, her face was so red I thought she was going to explode, but before it could happen she gave some sort of crappy excuse and started walking towards the exit and Mark left right behind her.

Deciding that I wouldn't feel comfortable in the middle of these people all by myself, I decided to head to the last floor where I work in Callie's office. My heels are killing me and I need to take them off ASAP!

It takes me a little longer than usual to reach the elevator but once I'm inside, alone, I feel like I can breathe again and first thing I do is take off my heels. _'God, it feels so much better!_

As I walk down the hall heading to Callie's office something catches my attention. I can hear sobs coming from the end of the hall.

Finding it really weird I decide to go and check out if there's someone needing help. The situation scares me a little, I must say, the floor was supposed to be empty, even I wasn't supposed to be here.

When I get closer to the sound I notice it's coming from Callie's office and I immediately start walking faster.

When I reach the door – which was open – I am met with a heartbreaking scene. Callie is sat on the small couch that's in the room with her head between her hands and her sobs echoing all the room.

"Callie," I say to let her know I'm here. "Is ev-everything okay?"

"Hum?" She hums as she raises her head. "Oh, hey Arizona… yeah, yeah… everything is fine." She says as she tries to wipe away the tears that were rolling down her face.

"Are you sure?" I ask as I let my heels fall to the floor and approach to the couch to take the seat next to hers. "You don't look fine."

She just keeps staring at the wall across from the room without saying a word.

"You can talk to me, I know we're not friends or-"

"We are." She cut me off. "We've been working together for a month and we get along pretty well, so I assume I can say we are."

"Okay, so you can talk to me." I say with a soft tone, trying to make her feel comfortable.

"I-I don't wanna bother you with my problems. Don't worry, I'll be fine." She says now facing me.

I had noticed it before, but now that she's closer I can see that she's got beautiful eyes… even if they're a little red from crying.

"You don't bother me." I say placing an assuring hand on her shoulder. "You know, sometimes it's better if we let it out, instead of holding it with us. If you let it out, vent a little bit, you'll even be able to breathe better."

"What?" She said now laughing a little. "Where did you read that?"

"I just made it up." I said giving her a dimpled smile. "It worked, made you laugh a little."

"Yes, it did. Thank you." She said smiling at me.

"You don't have to thank me, you have a beautiful smile, why hide it?" _Oh my God, did I overstep?_ I thought. I didn't mean to say that, it just came out.

"You've got a pretty smile yourself. Cute dimples." She says making my heart beat faster. Did she really say that? _'Okay Arizona, snap out of it, she said it because she's trying to be nice, she's not flirting with you.'_

"So, you wanna talk now or…"

"Are you sure you wanna listen?"

"I'm sure." I say giving her an affirming nod.

"It's… it's just these people down at the party, they talk about things as if they know what they're talking about and it just messes with me, mainly if they're talking about me." She said letting out a defeated breath.

"Yeah, I understand how that feels… I've faced that a lot of times. They think they know what they're talking about and they think they can judge you." I say deciding to open up a little too to make her feel a little more comfortable.

"In my case it's not the judging, I don't even know if they're judging but…" She takes a deep breath before going on. "How can someone play with your life, making up things and saying it to everyone who is around to hear?" I can see tears filling up her eyes as she talks and it just breaks my heart. I wish I could do more than just listening, even if I still don't know what it is that is bothering her this bad.

"You sound really upset…"

"Upset? I am pissed! You were down there, you probably heard people talking about-"

"You and Jackson?" I cut her off and she just nodded. "People love to talk about other people's lives, don't let it bother you or Jackson. People have no business in your relationship."

"What?" She snaps her head. "No, that's the problem… there's no relationship. Jackson and I are not a couple, his father made it up, I'm talking about Robert. Him and all the people he told this lie to, of course."

"It's not true?" I say a little surprised myself. "But you guys went on a date and downstairs you seemed pretty close."

"Arizona, no, it's not true!" She says a little snappy. "We went for dinner but that's something his father did too. When he accepted the merger he said he had conditions and one of them was that I go on a date with Jackson. And downstairs, it was nothing, we're just friends."

"That's an absurd. I knew Mr. Avery was manipulative but not like this. I'm sorry, I didn't know about that."

"Yes, he is… I'm really sorry for Jackson, I thought I had a father that was tough to deal with. Him? It's way worse." She says with a calmer tone now. "And no, don't apologize, I'm the one who should apologize, you're here trying to help me and I'm snapping at you… I'm sorry." She says looking softly into my eyes.

"It's okay, don't worry."

An awkward silence took over the room. She was once again staring at the wall and I was staring at her. I could stare at her the whole night to be honest. And I could see that this whole Jackson thing wasn't the only thing bothering her, but I decided just to let it go, she will talk when she's ready.

"Did you change your mind about me?" She asked out of nowhere.

"I'm sorry?" I asked without understanding what she was talking about.

"On your first day here… when you arrived I was yelling and was sort of rude with you. I'm sure that made you think I'm some sort of boss witch that hates her employees…"

"No, I-"

"Yes, you did." She cut me off once again. "I could see the look on your face. I'm no mind reader but I could imagine the kind of things you were thinking." She looked at me for a few seconds before asking again. "So, did you change your mind?"

"Yes, I did." I said letting out a small laugh. "You're a good person. I've known you for all of a month but I know you're a good person. And I see how you talk to everyone here and how much they respect you. And that's nice, they respect you because you respect them, not because they fear you or something like that."

"So you think I'm a good boss?" She asked playfully.

"So far, so good." I play along giving her a little push to the side.

"As much as I loved staying here talking to you, I should go downstairs." She says with a sad face.

"Of course." I say raising up from the couch. "You have your people down there, you should definitely go."

"I was actually saying that because my glass is empty." She says as she points to her empty glass of champagne. "And my people are no longer there, Mark sent me a text saying him and Jackson were going somewhere called 'Joe's'."

"Oh, I see…"

"But what about if I go down there, get another glass and come back so we can keep talking? We'll spent a lot of time together and like I said we are friends… well, not really but we should, I'm surrounded by men the whole day, it'd be good to have a friend who's a girl. Anyways, we should learn more about each other."

"I have a better idea." I say as I head towards the door. "What if I go down there and get a whole bottle, maybe two and a glass for me, because I don't have a glass, and then I come back and let you learn more about me?"

"Won't you get in trouble because of it? I don't want my new friend to get in trouble."

"They won't see me, don't worry."

"So, what are you? A ninja?"

"Oh Callie, Callie… there are so many things you don't know about me." I say playfully as I walk out of the room.

This night shall be fun.

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AN2: So? Did you like it?

P.S: I'd like to thank you guys for the follows, reviews and all those people who favorited this story ;) See you next chapter.


	5. The Dance Club

AN: I know, I know... long time, no update. But hey, it's here so yaaaaay! (?) I won't do much blah blah blah, I just wanna thank you all for the follows, favorites and reviews I've been getting, you guys are awesome!

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_Callie's POV:_

It's been a week since the party, since the night I drowned myself in champagne and had no idea how I made it home. It's been a week since the gossip was spread, and if there's something we know about gossip, it's that it spreads faster than wild fire.

If it wasn't for the hours I spent, in this very same office, talking to Arizona that night, I wouldn't have survived it. The dimpled blonde and I developed a really nice friendship since that night, which surprised me because out of all people, the new girl would be the last person I'd have guessed I'd be friends with. We talked a lot that night and I must admit that Arizona is really cute when she's drunk... I just wish I could remember more things about that night.

But now, a week later, all of that fun time of girl talk with my new friend is over and I am sitting in my office looking at the bills that already arrived and trying to find a way to pay them without making the hole in our fund deeper. Since the idea of the gala came up for the first time, I let everyone know that I was against it, that it wasn't a smart move to spend that amount of money on something that would last only a night when we need the money for so many more important things, but nobody listened to me. However, now that the bills started to arrive they realized I was right, that it was a bad idea... but even now, they don't care as much as I do because it's MY responsibility to find a way to not let the hole get deeper.

I was so focused on my papers that I almost didn't hear the knock on the door. "Come in." I said before looking back at my papers.

"Hey Callie." Jackson greets me as he enters.

"Hey, Jackson." I say finally pulling my head out of my papers. "Didn't expect to see you here today, I thought it was the secretary knocking."

"Yeah, sorry I didn't call to let you know, I told her to announce me but she said I could come and just knock."

"It seems like she's finally learning." I said, letting out a laugh. This had been the main subject of my speeches to the poor woman for weeks, she heard me saying that neither Mark or Jackson needed to be announced so many times that now I think she finally learnt.

"I heard some of the bills started to arrive, so I thought I could come and help you with that, I know that you're the one who manages that stuff." He says giving me a small smile.

"Oh, sure, that would be nice. These numbers are already giving me a head ache; poor Arizona couldn't handle me rambling by how stupid this idea was so she left to get me a cup of coffee and herself 15 minutes without me saying how stupid it all was. Though she wasn't complaining, I know she deserved at least 15 minutes, she's been here since 8."

"Well, let me see how I can help" He said standing up from his seat and taking the chair in front of my table.

Something like 2 minutes passed and I could feel that his eyes were on me, and if there's one thing that makes me feel very uncomfortable it's when people stare.

"What is it?" I say leaving my eyes from the paper and facing him.

"Nothing." He shrugs and looks back at his paper but not two seconds later he looks up at me again.

"Alright, Avery, what's the matter?" I ask with my level of patience a little lower.

"The thing Mark said at the party... that wasn't true, was it?" I could sense in his tone that he was a little afraid of asking that question.

"Mark said so many things that if you don't tell me exactly what you referring to it'll be a little hard to answer your question." I say playfully to make him a little more comfortable.

"About...uh... when he said it wouldn't be the first time you'd be with... uh with-"

"Oh, that..." I say cutting him and getting a little nervous. I still can't believe Mark brought that up. "It's- it's not true I-I've never-" Saved by the bell, or better, my words are cut off when my phone starts to ring, but before I pick it up I say, "I like men".

Sliding my finger on the screen and bringing the device up to my ear I answer my call. "Hello?"

**"Calliope!"** My heart freezes when I hear the voice that comes from the other end of the line, there are only two people who call me like that and that voice is definitely not my father's. **"You finally answered my call, little sis."**

"What do you want?" I answer with a harsh tone getting Jackson's attention. "I already told you I don't wanna talk to you."

**"Come on little sis, you used to treat me better."** He says with a playfully tone that gets me on my nerves. **"Stop being stubborn Calliope, I wanna see you, I miss you."**

"Well, it's a little too late for that." I say raising my voice. "I don't, do you hear me well? I don't want to see you, I don't want to talk to you so stop calling me because I have no interest in anything related to you. You cut me out of your life once, so now I am the one cutting you off. And right now, I am hanging up." Those are my last words before I hang up the call. I take a couple of calming breaths but it doesn't seem to work, so before even thinking I throw my phone across the room making it bump against the wall and falling with its screen broken in little pieces to the ground. I stare at the broken phone on the ground and before I can help it I feel tears of anger and sadness rolling down my face. And before I know it there are arms reaching me and leading me to sit on the couch.

I don't say a word and Jackson just watches me as I break down, I feel his arms around me and his hands going up and down on my arm as a way to try and calm me down, which helps little.

"It was my brother." I say after a couple more breaths and some tears later. "He left our house when I was five. He used to be my hero." I say with a sad laugh. "After he left my world came down, I couldn't imagine how I'd live without my big brother." I knew I was throwing out words but Jackson didn't seem to mind and just shook his head. "He used to call me... every day around 5 o'clock I used to sit on the chair next to the phone and wait for my brother's calls. But then his calls became rare and after a while he stopped calling. I used to lock myself in my room and cry into my pillow because my brother wasn't there anymore... I still had Aria but it wasn't the same. He was more than a brother for both of us; our father has always been a busy man with almost no time for family so our brother sort of played his role. He used to take us to the park to eat cotton candy and play with other kids, he was older than us but he played hide and seek with us whenever we wanted, when a storm hit the town he was the one to share his bed with his scared little sisters... after he left Aria tried to be that for me but she couldn't because she missed him as well." Jackson listened to my story without moving and keeping me in his embrace. "When I grew older I tried to find him, I tried so hard but I couldn't, it was like my brother had never existed and it hurt. Our father told us that he had given up on his family, some of other family members said he was probably dead... but I refused to believe any of those theories so I kept looking. But then, one day, I got tired and stopped and let myself believe that he was indeed dead. Because for me was easier to believe he had died than to believe he had abandoned me." At this point all the hurt from the past came back, clips from the days I spent locked in my room crying started playing in my head and it felt like I was there in my old childhood room crying. Before I could notice I was sobbing again and my sobs were the only sound echoing in the room.

It was until the door cracked open and a blonde holding two cups of coffee entered the room. "Sorry it took so long but there was-" She stopped talking when she noticed I wasn't alone. "Oh.. sorry, I-I will come back later." She said starting to leave the room.

"Arizona!" I called her but she didn't look back. "Great, that's just great."

"Do you think she thought we were..." Jackson said rising up from the couch.

"Of course she did. Everyone is talking about it, and we both know it's a lie, I told her it's a lie but now she is probably thinking I am the liar." I say without getting a pause to breathe. How did I get so nervous about it?

Minutes of awkward silence filled the room until Jackson said, "I should go."

"Yeah, I think so." I answer. "Thank you for listening... but if you could keep this-"

"Don't worry, I won't say a word." He sends me a wink and leaves the room.

After a few minutes staring at the wall, I cross the room and get my broken phone. "This is just great." I say sarcastically when I see the stupid thing I did. "I guess I need a new phone." And after that statement I leave my office to go find myself a new phone.

* * *

As I walk through the streets of Seattle I think back at what happened this afternoon. My brother's call messed with me more than I would like it to. After thinking about it over and over again I realized that I was right when I said my family was lying. My brother wasn't dead, and he hadn't given up on his family either because, even after all these years he called me, he wants to see me. But at the same time that little hint of happiness from hearing from my bother appears, it's soon over and the question that has been in my head the whole day pops up, 'Why now?'

And to add the cherry to the top of the sundae, Arizona walked in on me and Jackson in a little intimate moment, for a lack of a better word. I know that it shouldn't bother me but it does, the gossip is all around and it would just make it worse. I know Arizona is not the gossiping kind but what if, without meaning it she lets it out to someone? And after that, that someone will tell another someone that will tell another someone that will tell someone else. But I guess that despite of this little concern there is another bigger one, that I myself don't know why it's bigger but it just is, she will think I am a liar. The look on her face when she saw us was... somehow, a sad look.

When we were talking that night, I felt a comfort that I hadn't felt in a long time, the way she seemed to understand and agree with me was something I think it's... special? I guess that's because she's a woman and I always had men as friends, never really trusted having woman as friends after high school, where the pretended to be my friends just because of my father's money or because they needed to cheat on an exam but deep inside they thought I was some sort of Carrie. But with Arizona... I don't know, there's something with her that makes me trust her, and I still have to find out what that is. I mean, if she's still willing to be friends with me.

After having so many things in my head at the same time, I decided to stop by my old friend's house and let it out a little.

"Hey Cals!" Mark greets me when he opens the door. "Come in, it's a little messy in here but nothing compared to my old college dorm." It gets from me a little laugh. Mark and I went to the same college and one day when we decided to have a movie marathon I got really scared when I entered his room, I just couldn't stay in that mess, we had to have the marathon back in my room.

"So, what do I own the pleasure of your visit?" He plays and I just hang back, with my back against the door staring at nothing. "Cal," he says after I don't give him an answer. "Are you okay?"

I can feel the concern in his voice so I stare at him in the eyes and just say, "Javier called me."

"What?!" He yells across the room. He knew how much this topic messed with me. "He called you again? I can't believe this guy, how dare him? After all he's done to you, after all the hurt he gave you!" I see my best friend's face getting redder and redder with anger. A year after my brother left I met Mark; he met the miserable sad six year old Callie that used to cry because she missed her big brother. That's when our friendship started, he told me he'd be my brother and he'd take care of me. And well, he did, Mark has been here for me since we met, standing to his word, he was my big brother and still is.

"He wants to see me." I say barely in a whisper as Mark keeps walking back and forth in the room.

"You're not going to see him, are you?" He stops in his tracks and asks me with concerned eyes.

"No," I say finally letting the tears I've been holding drop. "I thought it would be the happiest day of my life, you know... when my brother would call again but... no, not after all these years..." I wipe the tear that just dropped from my eyes. " I don't wanna see him." Before I know it Mark is by my side with his arms wrapped around me in a tight hug.

We stayed like that for I don't know how long. The warm embrace of my friend made my world stop spinning and I could finally take a breath. I know Avery was there for me either but it's not the same thing. Mark is my brother.

"You know what? I have plan." I look at him expecting him to give a solution for this situation but this hope fades away when he says, "we're going out tonight, like the old times. We're going out to drink and dance until we can't feel our feet anymore. You need to clear up your mind, have some fun. When was the last time you went out with friends?"

"Well, you're the only friend I have so you should know the answer."

"You know I am not, people really like you Cal, you just need to let them approach you. Like you did with Blondie and even Avery... you're an awesome friend, just stop being afraid of letting people approach" He says giving me a sweet smile. " So, I'm gonna call Lexie and cancel our dinner, I'm sure she will understand."

"No," I cut him. "You don't have to do that Mark, she is waiting for you. I bet she's been thinking about this all day and you can't let her hanging... I'll be fine, just... go." I say matter-of-factly.

"That's probably true." He says thinking for a moment. "How about I call her and change plans, she can go out with us, she's been dying to meet you so this would be a good opportunity. And she also needs to let loose a little, she has some boards coming up and she is getting crazy."

"Well... if she's up to it, I'm in." I say giving him a smile. "She's dying to meet me?"

"Yeah, I always tell her about you."

"She probably thinks I'm your dirty mistress" I say getting a laugh from my friend.

"I'll call her in an hour, I was actually getting ready for work when you arrived. I'll go grab my jacket and I leave you at home, okay?" I just nod and he leaves to grab his jacket.

* * *

Mark left me at home a few hours ago. Attempting to not think about the thing I'm willing to forget I took a nap for two hours and now I'm as good as new. Mark texted me when I was asleep to let me know he will be here to pick me up at 8, which leaves me one hour to get ready.

That hour flew by and as I'm giving myself a last check on the mirror my new phone vibrates with Mark's text letting me know he is already here. Finishing my last check and getting very happy about the result, I get my stuff and head outside the house.

At the other side of the street I see Mark's silver car with its window open and a beautiful brunette girl inside 'Yeah, he got himself a pretty one' I think as I give my friend's girlfriend a smile as I approach the car.

"You must be Lexie Grey." I say finally stepping in front of the cars door.

"And you're the famous Callie Torres." She says with a smile as big as mine.

"Famous, I don't know - but definitely Callie Torres." I say getting a laugh from both of them and getting into the car.

Let's have some fun.

* * *

_General POV:_

The night's choice was the old dance club Callie and Mark used to go as soon as they moved to Seattle. There were a lot of other fancier dance clubs their money could afford but the duo always enjoyed the simple life.

As soon as they are inside Mark goes to the bar and get them their respective drinks. If this night is about forgetting, let the forgetting begin.

"Hey Cals, you won't believe who I found at the bar." Mark says as he hands the girls their respective drinks.

"Who?" Callie asks curiously.

Instead of answering Mark just points to the blonde sat on a stool not too far from them. The Latina sees the blonde and she feels every hair of her body shiver, she hasn't spoken to Arizona since earlier that day so she doesn't know if the blonde still wants some sort of friendship with her, so she just raises her glass greeting the blonde, who does the same thing.

"I told her to stay here with us but she gave some crappy excuse." Mark explained.

"Maybe she's with someone." Lexie said getting Callie's attention.

"I don't think so, she was alone there. Why don't you go talk to her Torres, aren't you guys friends or... something?" He said giving his friend a knowing smirk, getting in response a punch on the shoulder.

"You should really stop with this. Your little joke at the gala? Jackson asked me about that. Before saying anything else about my past you better think because the things I've done? You've done it twice as worse." She says playing with her friend and now Lexie is the interested one.

"Is that so..." The Brunette says. "I'd love to hear about these stories..."

"No you wouldn't." Mark said before Callie could answer anything.

"I'll give you my phone number and we can talk." Callie said giving Lexie a playful wink.

"Seriously Cal, go talk to her." He says almost pushing the Latina towards the blonde, until Callie finally realizes he just wants some time alone with Lexie.

"Alright tiger, don't need to push me."

At the other side, at the bar, the blonde watched from distance her friends playing with each other.

The blonde had gone to the bar to try and forget what happened earlier, she knew she shouldn't be upset but she just was. Seeing Callie in that sort of intimate moment with Jackson made the blonde feel something weird, that she, herself, thinks she hasn't felt in a while, if she ever felt that... jealousy.

Arizona never considered herself to be the jealous kind, she never felt that with any of her girlfriends. And as some sort of sick joke, she is jealous of a woman she's not in a relationship with.

Since she started working with Callie she knew it would be a challenge for her every day to keep herself from grabbing the Latina's ass or from drooling over her beautiful broadway legs. But that was a challenge she was willing to take. After the gala she was happy to see that she and Callie could have some sort of friendship, that the other woman trusted her she said, some feelings she shared... But it all went away today when she saw her with Jackson. Callie had assured her they weren't anything but friends and a few weeks later she walks in on them. And that kept her mind busy all day, she knew what she saw wasn't like... a big deal... but couldn't stop thinking why/if Callie would lie to her. And after thinking for too long she went after her best friend, Clara, who told her the best way to forget what happened is to go out, have some drinks, dance a little 'even though you're a terrible dancer' Clara's words echoed on the blonde's mind making her giggle. But just like that, fate decided to slap her on the face and she finds herself in the same place the person she was trying to get out of her mind. And before she realized it, Callie was walking towards her direction and there was no way out.

"Hey." Callie greets her with a shy smile.

"Hi." Arizona says trying to control her eyes to not check the Latina out but failing.

"So... you're alone?" Callie asks, pretending she didn't notice Arizona checking her out.

"Um.. yeah, alone." She says smiling. "I see you're with Mark."

"Yeah," The taller woman turned around just to see her friend with his lips attached to Lexie's. "But not really." She says laughing and turning back to the blonde.

An awkward silence falls upon them until Callie decides to break it. "So, why don't you join us? I know Mark already asked so I thought that maybe if I came here with my smile and all you'd change your mind... and that way I won't feel like the third wheel." She said having no idea what her words did to the blonde.

"Um, yeah... okay." Arizona answers standing up from her stool.

"And Arizona..." Callie was with a serious tone now. "About earlier today I-"

"It's not my business." The blonde replied and the look on Callie's face made her think that maybe she was too harsh with the woman. "Really Callie, it's fine." She says now with a softer tone and with a smile that hides how she really feels about it.

Callie just nods and they head to the table where Lexie and Mark are.

"Alright, you're not alone anymore." Callie says when they approach and the couple doesn't seem to acknowledge their presence. "You can stop kissing now."

"Sorry." Lexie says with a blush on her face.

"Hey, relax, Lexie." Callie says placing a hand on the woman's shoulder. "I was just kidding."

After introductions were made the four friends started drinking and dancing all together, each of them with a buzz already on their head.

Talks, laughs and some failed dance moves were made and they were now lost into the beat of the music, mainly a certain Latina that couldn't help but move her hips to the sound of the beat, making a certain blonde and some men around stare at her, and the good kind of stare. Callie danced with Mark and even with Lexie but she stopped dancing when she saw the blonde sat just moving her feet.

"Come on Arizona, don't you dance?" She asked a little louder to be able to be heard over the loud music.

"I'm a terrible dancer; I am not going to embarrass myself, mainly in front of my boss." She says playfully. "And I already danced a little."

"I'm not your boss right now, right now I am your friend, I won't judge." She said trying to convince the blonde. "So, you going to dance and have some fun, or will you stay there just watching all the people around you having fun?"

"Alright but... will you dance with me?" The blonde asks with blue eyes now a little darker with desire, she knows that nothing happened but just the idea of dancing with Callie, feeling the Latina's body touching hers as they dance together makes her heart beat faster, her eyes go darker and some other funny things happen to another part of her body.

Before the Latina could answer a familiar voice called them from behind. "Hey guys, I've finally found you!"

"Jackson?" Callie asks surprised. "What are you doing here? How did you know we were here?"

"I texted him." Mark said. "I told him we were coming here tonight and he should meet us here to see how people have fun for real and not just in fancy dinner or gala parties."

"I know how to have fun, alright? I am not my father!" He answers with a childish tone getting a round of laughter from the others.

"Well, I am glad you came, Jackson." Callie answered. "I was trying to take these people to the dance floor but they're just too weak and old, they're already tired."

"Hey!" Mark snapped.

"Shut it, grandpa." Callie replied. "So, you won't let me and Arizona down will you?" She asks playfully, this time getting Arizona's attention.

"Me? Why me?" She asks.

"Because you had agreed to dance." Callie replied.

"Yeah but... you know what? I guess I'll have to drink a little more before that." She says giving some lame excuse. "I'll go to the bar get another drink, you two go and have fun."

"Alright, we'll be waiting for you." Callie says before she and Jackson head to the dance floor.

"Mark," Lexie says getting her lover's attention. "I just got paged, I have to go."

"Oh come on, really?" He asks not believing his night won't end as he was planning it to.

"I'm so sorry, I promise to make it up to you."

"Can't you just pretend you didn't hear it?" He asks with a childish tone.

"And let tiny humans die?" She asks faking a shocked expression.

"Alright." He gives in. "See you tomorrow." And with a quick peek on the lips he sees his girlfriend leave.

Just after Lexie left, Arizona came back to their table.

"Oh yes, alcohol!" Mark said trying to get the blonde's drink.

"This one is mine, if you want one, the bar is over there." She says pointing to the bar.

The man just shrugs and go to the bar get his so wished for drink.

With her eyes on the dance floor, Arizona sees the people moving along with the beat of the song, all of them seem to be having a really good time and are really good dancers. But none of them moves to the sound of the beat as well as the Latina that has gotten Arizona's attention since the day they met. It's amazing how Callie's hips moves to the beat of the song, and she looks incredibly hot. Arizona can see from distance that bright smile that could illuminate an entire room, her tight black jeans making justice to the Latina's curves, making Arizona's mouth water... or go dry, she didn't even know anymore, and her eyes once again gets darker with lust. But when she sees Jackson dancing with Callie, his hands on her hips and her back in to his front, it's like someone threw cold water at the blonde.

"You want a napkin?" A voice wakes Arizona from her dream.

"What?" She asks confused as to why Mark would offer her a napkin.

"You're drooling." He says with a knowing smirk. "I don't blame you, she is hot."

Arizona suddenly finds herself without words. She's been caught and there's nothing else she can do... so she just tries to deny it. "I'm... I'm not drooling."

"It's okay, Blondie. Don't need to get all nervous." Mark plays, getting on the blondes nerves.

"I," She says rising up from her stool and facing Mark, looking at him in the eye. "…am not drooling."

And just like that she leaves the man hanging alone, watching a furious slash jealous blonde walk away.

_I am so going to kill Clara._ The blonde thinks as she leaves the dance club.

* * *

AN2: So, long chapter, huh? Was it worth it? Let me know. Ya know, reviews make me write faster...


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